Mirror's Edge
by Sun Wu K0ng
Summary: Jaune Arc is a being that belongs to a family line of powerful huntsmen, all of whom possess extraordinary amounts of aura and a family semblance: mimicry. As such, he is able to imitate the semblances of other fighters. But what does this mean for Jaune's future?
1. Disclaimer

**Disclaimer:**

I'd like to clarify a few things before I begin this rewrite.

The original source material for this fanfiction is titled "Jaune's Video Diary" by fanfic author AngeloGene. While this piece of work may seem like another run of the mill harem, the main enticing component, at least to me, was the concept. It is because of the concept that a lot of the original is going to carry over to this reboot. Not everything though. If I didn't make it clear, the two major flaws of the original are that the harem is so largely ridiculous that you'll forget that the conduit is a bunch of girls acting like stalkers while stealing their crush's scroll, and that the story also suffers from a bad case of perfect-hero-creates-perfect-world. The beginning chapters are mildly interesting, what with him training and learning some new skills, but then the fic decays into Jaune and Friend Shenanigans, where Jaune becomes an automatic chick magnet and manages to instantly shows CRDL the error of their ways, then they play hokey-d*ckhead and blah-blah. There is no longer any conflict aside from which b*tch gets the oblivious stud. So those both won't carry over to such a degree. There's also a bit of a time discontinuity where the author tries to introduce the story halfway through the first year at Beacon but then shows characters having relief at a reassembled Penny and a reformed but still devious Neo, but Yang still has both arms, so... For clarity's sake, I'm going to make the setting very clear. I'm starting not to long into the series, only a couple months after initiation. Neo will still be part of the story but her affiliations with Roman won't have been discovered yet.

Another thing I'd like to clarify is the title. When I first came up with the name Mirror's Edge, I was unaware of the other medium bearing the same name. The video game Mirror's Edge concerns game mechanics pertaining to parkour stunts in order to evade pursuit from corrupt agents of the government. That said, while I am still keeping the name, I am not going to be drawing anything from the video game medium for this fic. This is a purely RWBY fanfic.


	2. Chapter 1

Mirror's Edge: Chapter 1

Jaune boarded the elevator, the dread mounting with stronger, faster pulses hammering in his chest. He turned around so that he faced the opening with his back to the wall and a control panel of buttons off to his left somewhere. As the elevator doors closed, he locked eyes with Miss Goodwitch, who held his gaze with the stern and disciplinary expression she wore constantly around Beacon's campus. Looking deeper into her eyes, Jaune barely saw them shiver, a pit of darkness that seemed filled with worry.

Jaune stared down at his shoes. His armor glinted in the bright light beaming from above. A hiss followed by a – Ding – the door sealed shut. His fate sealed shut with it.

No. Those eyes weren't filled with worry. They were pitying. Jaune sighed, closing his eyes. His heart beat in his ears.

/-/-/-/

"The headmaster wants to talk with me?" It was an odd concept to Jaune, since Ozpin hadn't ever really shown him much attention. Ms. Goodwitch stood opposite across the lunch table.

"Immediately, I'm afraid. He says that the matter is of utmost importance." She glanced down at her scroll, pupils dilating every so slightly, before looking back at him. "We should hurry. I wouldn't do to keep him waiting."

Jaune looked back at his food before picking up his tray. He flashed as reassuring a smile as he could muster to his team. "I'll be right back." The teams said their goodbyes.

He had to jog to catch up to Goodwitch. "So, could you tell me what this is about?" The deputy didn't change her pace and kept her stare forwards.

"I have a few guesses but it isn't my place to tell you." They quickly came up to the elevator. Jaune moved to push the button before his wrist grinded to a halt. Goodwitch held her crop steady, the signature violet glow of her semblance emanating from her hand. She cut it off with a sigh and stared him dead in the eye. "Whatever he tells you, whatever decision he makes, I ask that you hold a brave face to the new challenges that now lie in your future. Know that his choice is for the best and that while it may seem one way now, you may come to see it in a different light. A brighter light."

She broke her gaze and, leaning forward, pushed the button for him. "We live in a dark enough world for you to feel regret at such a young age."

/-/-/-/

He knew then. He f*cking knew... F*ck!

Jaune exhaled sharply, dragging one hand down his face, snagging both lower eyelids and rolling his eyes. He ended up staring straight into the lightbulbs.

"Damn it. Why does it have to be so bright in here?" Jaune complained, rubbing his eyes vigorously.

So this was it, huh? His dreams of ever being a hunter, now in shambles. He'd have a permanent record of forgery, a criminal that thought he could force his way to an impossible dream. Everyone would know. His story would make headlines. How would he get a job? How could he ever face his family again? He'd claimed that he would succeed and they didn't believe him, of course they wouldn't have. But to then return shame-faced.

To have to say goodbye to RWBY...

...Ren and Nora...

...Pyrrha.

…

"F*CK!" Jaune lashed out, slamming his fist against the wall next to him. The metal yielded to his aura and no cuts or blood trailed down his hands. Jaune couldn't decide to do anything. What could he do?

Leaning back against the wall, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, waiting for his ascension to end.

…

"Mr. Arc." The voice blared from a speaker in a top corner of the elevator, jolting Jaune from his brooding state. "While I'm sure you have plenty reason to go damaging my property and mope, perhaps it would be better if you just push the button for the top floor and meet me in my office."

Jaune peered around, straining his ears to listen. There was no noise, no creaking of gears, no cables ringing of thick wires moving him upwards. Tentatively, he reached out a finger and pressed down on the button labeled for the 12th floor. The elevator whirled to life around him and ever so slowly, he began his ascent.

"Motherf-"

/-/-/-/

"Sorry about that, headmaster." Jaune took his seat, sinking into the cushions with a long exhale. Ozpin shook his head and smiled.

"It's no worry. I understand you have a lot on your plate already." The headmaster indulged himself in draining his mug, a moment Jaune used to take in the room. It was large, or perhaps it was meant to appear that way. The only things that seemed to take up room in the office were himself, Ozpin, and the wooden desk, whose furnishing suggested that it was made of mahogany. All around them, enormous gears rotated slowly. Even under the glass floor, an endless abyss of axles, spokes, and the darkness between them seemed to stretch up towards him. Jaune pondered their use: there hadn't been a clock on the outer wall of the tower. Now that he thought about it, was the floor an illusion or an actual sheet of glass above such a vast array of cogs that he'd surely be ground to paste if the fall didn't kill him if the floor shattered? Jaune set his feet down gently at the thought of the latter, already breaking into a cold sweat. Ozpin put down his mug.

"Mr. Arc. Do you know why I called you here?" Silence reigned. Seconds ticked by on a choked tongue.

"No, sir. Could you tell me?"

The man picked up a sheet of paper off his desk and adjusted his glasses. "Earlier this year, I received an application that surprised me quite a bit. It had the Arc family name to it. I found it odd considering Nicholas had told me, not five years ago, that he hadn't taught any of his children to be huntsmen. He hadn't enrolled them or allowed them to gain experience in any capacity and he claimed that he never would." Jaune's hands clenched into fists, pale skin starting to shiver. The headmaster set down the sheet and locked eyes with him.

"That aside, five years is quite a while and I assumed that perhaps he had changed his mind. Upon further review of your application, my deputy found several inconsistencies with your skills: the boy who could take out hordes of beowolves without a single mention of aura, the skill with a sword with no description of technique nor mention of any teacher that taught you, and an incorrect association of an aggressive blade form with a style of defensive hand-to-hand combat."

Jaune closed his eyes, barely keeping his tears back. "You knew. All this time, you knew I was fake. A fraud."

"I did. And despite all of that, I decided to let you attend this school."

Jaune stared down at his feet, face gaunt with horror. He hesitated. He took a single deep breath and forced himself to meet the headmaster's gaze. "Please. My team, just... I need to say goodbye. Two hours. My things will be packed and I'll be out of your way."

Ozpin sighed sharply, removing his glasses before rubbing the bridge of his nose. Shaking his head, he grabbed the crystal of his cane and moved over to stare out the series of windows that had been at this back. "I didn't think you'd give up so easily." He moved to take a sip from his mug, only to realize he'd left it on the desk. He folded his fingers into a fist. "... Mr. Arc. Did it occur to you that perhaps I wanted you here? That perhaps I could see your potential for greatness as a savior of mankind? Why else let you in here, ignore my own rules, and allow you to attend the most prestigious academy in Vale?"

"Then why?" Jaune's voice was quiet, but the volume increased rapidly. "Why tell me this? Why even call me here? If I'm going to stay, why now?"

"Because your too slow." Jaune reeled in shock. Ozpin's voice hadn't waver in the slightest. For a moment, the man stopped looking the strong and confident professor he was meant to embody and more an old, frail man. The headmaster settled back into his chair and grabbed his mug, choosing to sling it, swinging it back and forth rather than drink. "You're advancing too slowly. I don't think there's a recorded match where you've won against Mr. Winchester. You've improved but the pace is insufficient." Ozpin stopped slinging and drank deeply. "And in a place like this, a person like you is very dangerous, both for the you and the people around you."

"Then what's the plan? Do I even still have a hope of staying here?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, his smirk suddenly looking a bit more smug. "Tell me, Mr. Arc. Your nights training on the rooftops, have you or Ms. Nikos had any luck finding out your semblance?"

"No. No, not really." Jaune looked down. "All that has been established is that I have an enormous Aural capacity. We've kept looking, even doing some research along the way." He shrugged dejectedly. "No luck."

Ozpin set down his mug. "You don't need to search. Your semblance is one already well-known."

Jaune froze, his gaze slowly moving back to the Headmaster.

"I believe you are aware of the Schnee family, yes?" Jaune nodded. "They are a family that possesses a hereditary semblance, a glyph that is able to manipulate the very physics of nature. The Arcs are very similar, also possessing a hereditary semblance. Your grandfather, Thomas, studied here with me, though he was two years ahead of me. Nicholas studied here under me. Both possessed the exact same semblance. And now you're here." Ozpin hid a smile behind a sip from his mug. "I'd like to think I have a pretty good guess for your latent potential."

"And that would be...?"

Ozpin set down the mug, twisting his chair slightly as he began tapping matched fingers on both hands.

"You don't really have your own semblance."

Jaune almost fell out of his chair.

"Actually," Ozpin raised a finger, "it would be more accurate to say your semblance has no potential for originality. Simply put, your semblance is mimicry."

"Mimic – what, you mean like copying?"

"Indeed. Your semblance allows you to imitate the physical aspects of semblances belonging to other combatants." Ozpin leaned forward. "And at your age, a semblance like that and will take a very long time to develop."

"I'll do it. Any training, any exercise, no matter how difficult, I will do anything to become the best hero I can be."

Ozpin smiled. "I know you will."

/-/-/-/

 **Rules of criticism, yada yada, still gonna write them.**

 **1) Do not write critiques that convey senses of either love or hate**

 **2) Do not label the writing**

 **3) Comment what you think was good AS WELL AS what you think can be improved**

 **4) Do not give me ideas for further plots.**


	3. Chapter 2

Comment Responses

 **adislt:** **good concept, but imo you add too much unnecessary parr in your chapter, for example this chapter consist of 80 exaggerated part of jaune cursing and his moment before come to office meanwhile actual part of the story just fill around 20 of your chapter**

 _Imo, I think that "unnecessary parr" is very much necessary to establish a sense of reality. Jaune's response needs to be realistic. His reactions are meant to set up his character, or rather my interpretation of his character as it may not match with yours, preparing you for what to expect from him. If you were to put yourself in his shoes, I believe you'd also curse just as much at the futility of his situation. That "80 exaggerated part of Jaune cursing" isn't exaggerated at all. It is a very realistic response. If you disagree with that... Welcome to the U.S. As for the "actual part of the story", if you only saw 20% of the previous chapter as relevant or important to the story, you weren't reading carefully enough._

Chapter 2

Jaune stood side-by-side with the headmaster in the cramped elevator. Given their agreement only happening minutes ago, Jaune felt that he should have been ecstatic, thrilled even. A new chance with true potential of becoming a huntsman, one where he'd be worthy of his own team, his title. He wouldn't need to be saved anymore. No he'd instead be the one saving. On top of that, he'd essentially gotten away with breaking the law. There should have been relief, happiness, and hope.

Instead, all of his thoughts simply focused on the awkward silence that filled the air between them. There wasn't any music or sound system so the only noise they heard was the grinding of gears and scrapping of steel cords on pulleys. It wasn't loud but still audible. Jaune would've laughed were it not for Ozpin's unwavering expression.

"Is my silence disturbing you?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, not at all."

"Hmm." Ozpin sighed. "I have this unfortunate habit of not talking when I see no need to. I apologize for that. I should also inform you that you will have to keep your developments hidden from your team as well as any other team you come in contact with besides the one that will be aiding in your training. Aside from the fact that the facility is secret and knowledge of it shouldn't spread, but privacy of your new-found abilities is necessary for your final test. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

A small chime rang from the ceiling and the elevator doors opened swiftly. "Where are your armor and weapons?" he asked, stepping outside.

Jaune followed. "Uh, my locker, sir."

"Ah, good. There should be a remote propulsion feature on your scroll. Have it sent to the courtyard."

"Okay." Jaune tapped in the location. "And then what?"

"History. It would be best if you knew where we are going. Tell me, Mr. Arc, are you aware of Beacon's past?"

"Not particularly. I know that it was founded simultaneously with the other three huntsman academies 80 years ago."

"Relatively recent. Before that, this place was a staging area for Vale during the Great War, a base that was used off and one for storing military gear and vehicles, along with several rooms for housing refugees." The headmaster raised his hand to his lips, only to look at it in shock when he realized it was empty. He froze abruptly, Jaune bumping into him mid-stride.

"Wha-, sir? Are you alright?"

Ozpin spun around, looking back towards the office he'd just left, before looking back towards the ground, as though he were weighing options.

"Sir?" The locker crashed directly in front of Jaune, who hesitantly retrieved Crocea Mors.

"Yes, Mr. Arc," Ozpin sighed deeply, fingers curling to fists. "Everything is fine. It's just that I really should start taking Bart's advice on obtaining thermos." He continued on, stride longer and pace quicker. "As I was saying, this base also features an underground bunker. Of course, the base was decommissioned after the end of the Great War and most of its facilities were demolished in order to make room for Beacon."

"Most?"

"We are currently walking towards a fully intact bunker that, due to my offer to you, has been fully refurbished with new Atlas grade training robots and programs, dust reserves, and an updated ICU."

"ICU?"

"Medical facility." Moving past the courtyard, Ozpin led Jaune through two pillars to the main entrance of the colosseum. He stopped and they stood side-by-side, starring at the center stage. Ozpin breathed in, dragging the gesture as though enjoying the morning air. "When I initiated this project, I planned for there to be a switch on the pillar to my right." Ozpin sighed, prompting Jaune to lean backwards slightly and peer around Ozpin for said switch. "And when pressed, the switch would activate the entire colosseum, making it shift and rotate. The seating would transform into the symbol for huntsmen used all across Remnant, and then an opening would form from the stage, sinking in, the center spiraling downward to the bunker, providing a very convenient stairwell for us to descend."

The headmaster's shoulders sank noticeably as he heaved another sigh. "And then Glynda said that idea was stupid." He proceeded down the steps towards the stage. "The gesture, while undoubtably kind-hearted and symbolic of hope for all of humanity, apparently lay outside Beacon's budget."

Jaune followed Ozpin behind the stage, behind the wall from which background were hung for performances. Ozpin held out a hand, pointing to the center. "Thus, we had to settle for simple security measures and an elevator." Three bricks pushed in and a section of the wall slid down, revealing a palm scanner. "If you wouldn't mind, Jaune."

The huntsman in training did as he was asked, placing his hand on the panel. The scanner began to glow, light seeping out to the point where Jaune felt he might go blind even with his other hand over his eyes and his eyelids clenched shut. The light disappeared abruptly, leaving Jaune with stars dancing in his eyes as he stumbled into Ozpin's grasp. "ih don' fil so gud. Vury terud." he slurred, attempting to stand on his own.

"Ah, yes. The onset drowsiness. I'll have to apologize for that; about half of your aural reserves have been drained into the power core of the bunker."

"Huh?... Wha... Why would... why aura?" Jaune slowly shook off his sudden lethargy, rising to his full height as a door-like section of stone caved inward and slid aside for the elevator shaft.

"Do you remember how I said that your semblance is mimicry? That act solidifies my claim. Most huntsmen have simpler semblances and thus smaller capacities of aura to match. Your style of fighting will require the use of multiple unique semblances, all of which are quite diverse in how much aura it will take to power them. As such, you were given an aural capacity strong enough to power all of them." They stepped inside, the stone passage way scraping shut behind them. The chamber shuttered slightly and began its descent. "To put into perspective just how much, it would take the combined efforts of teams RWBY, CDNL, CVFY, and SSSN to perform the same act and all of them would need significant recovery time in the infirmary from doing such. That you still stand is incredible. Nicholas certainly didn't for his first time."

"But how does that get converted to energy?"

"Atlas developed technology that was able to convert aura into energy years ago. What you provided is equivalent to 5 mega joules of power per second, enough to power this facility for a month."

"..."

"5 million watts."

Jaune paused for a moment. "That... seems to break all laws of physics and reality in one statement."

"Believe me, that's nothing. Atlas has already found out how to have aura artificially created to power an artificial intelligence within a robotic endoskeleton that can adapt and learn, effectively becoming human." Ozpin went silent, thinking for a moment. "You weren't supposed to know about that but I think I can trust you to keep quiet. Can I?"

"Of course."

"Good man." The elevator doors slid open, producing a path to a massive training room. Ozpin swung his cane, pointing forward. "Wait there. Your instructors will be here shortly."

Jaune walked to the center, drawing out his sword when Ozpin called out behind him. "Oh, and one more thing Mr. Arc." The headmaster underhand tossed a white sphere to him. "That is a high quality surveillance camera. I'd like you to use the recording feature to keep me regularly updated on your progress. Be sure to make regular entries and send them to me."

"A camera? How does it-"

"Have a good day, Mr. Arc." The elevator slammed shut, rising back to the surface.

"... work." Jaune sighed, looking down at the ball. Sheathing Crocea Mors, he rolled it around in his hands, trying to find an opening or some sort of control pad.

…

…

"How does this thing work?!"

The door on the other side of the room slammed open. Leg raised high in the air, a girl wearing sun glasses, a beret, and some very expensive clothes, bellowed at the top of her lungs, "Hey there, Vomit Head!" She marched into the room, followed closely by another with dark skin, blood red hair, and purely white eyes, a giant that easily towered over the leader by a good two heads and sporting full-body armor tinted jade, and finally Velvet Scarlatina. Respectively, they were armed with gauntlets, an enormous odachi bearing the aesthetic of a dadao, and a digital camera.

"We're gonna be training you! No need to be thankful, we're only taking time out of our very busy schedules!" They stopped in front of him. "After all, you are the Jaune Arc, aren't you?"

…

…

Jaune turned to Velvet and waved. "Hey, Vel."

"Hey, Jaune." Instantly, the eyes of both the leader and the giant narrowed to slits.

Jaune looked them over again. "Is this your team, Vel?"

"Yeah."

"Your leader is very loud."

The giant stepped forward. "It is not wise to speak of her in the third person while also in her presence."

Said leader held out a hand, head tilted downward though her eyes shot daggers at him. "It's fine, Yats! This guy clearly doesn't know who I am."

Jaune jerked his head back, cocking it with a confused expression. "Should I?"

"Boy, I am Coco Adel, the strongest second year there is or ever will be and the #1 popular girl!" She jabbed a finger into his chest. "And I better start seeing some respect and f*cking gratitude here or I'll let Yats take his first turn first."

Jaune turned to Velvet.

"Yatsuhashi."

"Ah." He brushes aside the finger, and then bowed. "Sorry about that, thank you for your help. I'm very honored."

Coco froze, taking a step back. "... (snrk!) (hih hih!) … buEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA – THAT'S SO FUNNY – HEIHEHAHAHEHIHAAAAAaaaaaa… aaaah." She brought a finger to her eye and wiped away a single tear. "That's funny and all but you don't need to go worshiping me." She clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Although, honestly, you peasants really should bow down more to people like me, amiright?" She directed the latter question to the rest of her team, only to be met with silence.

"Please don't make her more full of herself than she already is." Velvet pleaded.

Coco put her hands on her hip. "Wow, you guys should do a stand up together. How do you even know each other anyway?"

"Oh, well Cardin managed to catch Velvet's ear-" Jaune began.

"HE DID WHAT?!" Coco turned to Velvet. "You let a first year get the jump on you?!"

"I didn't expect it-"

"That's no excuse!" Coco sighed into her hand, dragging her fingers on her eyelids. "Okay, then what?"

Jaune shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I walked over, helped her out, and then he left."

The four deadpanned at him, making him shift again as the silence filled the room.

"He beat you up, laughed, and then walked away while insulting you, didn't he?"

A bit of pink tinted Jaune's cheeks. "You don't have to put it like that."

"Right!" Coco nodded solemnly. "Well, he and I will have a conversation tomorrow." Yatsuhashi and Velvet shared a look over the 4th team member's head. "Anyway, let me explain how this'll work! Our team was specifically chosen to instruct you because we're the best of our year, both in terms of academics, achievements, and combative skills. We've decided to split jobs and each of us will be training you in different fields. This," She pointed to the one with gauntlets, "is Fox. He will be handling your instinctive training, get you up to huntsman quality as soon as possible. Yats will be handling PT and Velvet will develop your semblance."

Jaune nodded his thanks to each one individually. He stopped short at Velvet, spacing out momentarily, before turning back to Coco. "Wait, what'll you be doing?"

She leaned in, glaring up at him with a vicious smile. "I'll let you know during our first session, pretty boy." She responded, winking. Jaune gulped. She straightened and twirled her finger above her head. "Fox, you're up. Try not to kill the kid." He nodded. Coco then left with Velvet and Yatsuhashi in tow. As the doors closed behind them, only Velvet had the decency to look back and wave with an apologetic smile.

…

…

"So how's this gonna work?" Jaune faced Fox, waiting for instructions. For a moment, nothing happened, making Jaune wonder if Fox had not heard him. The unmistakeable sound of gun chamber rotating into position were all the warning Jaune got before a rectangular box of pain slammed into his face. Jaune staggered backwards, dropping the camera sphere.

"What the-" Jaune wasn't able to finish his conniption for his bloody nose as Fox fired a round, narrowly missing his head. He rolled to the side, barely deploying his shield in time to deflect a strike towards his chest. Fox shot again and Jaune felt the bones in his arms rattle as the shield almost flew out of his hands. He found some satisfaction, since he did hang on to his shield, and then immediately lost it along with his breath when Fox flung the shield aside and then buried a knee into his stomach. On his knees, a swift kick to his head sent Jaune sprawling next to Crocea Mors. He picked up the sword and, rising to his feet, held it before him unsteadily.

"Wow," he commented, wiping the blood from his mouth, "I never expected dirty fighting, least of all from someone better." Fox didn't reply, instead shrugging off his jacket, revealing a red vest/tank-top and arms so marred with scars that it would be miraculous if the nerves still functioned. There was a *click* and blades sprouted from each gauntlet, extending to the elbows. Jaune leaped forward, taking a desperate swipe at Fox's neck, only to fall short as the older student took lackadaisical half-step back. Two more swings produced the same results and Fox adopted an irked expression. He caught the third swing between the elbow guards, wrenching Crocea Mors out of Jaune's grip with a twist, and bashed Jaune's right shoulder.

Jaune didn't have time to register the pain of what could have been his first dislocated shoulder. Fox didn't let up, pushing him for the next ten minutes, delivering kicks to shins and blows to both head, gut and – occasionally – groin. Any attempts to land countering blows of his own were punished severely, often resulting in a momentary loss of his weapon before Fox inevitably sent him back to it. He had tried to simply stop fighting but Fox didn't pull any punches and always went to stomp his head if he lay down for too long. So Jaune rose again, sword in hand and shield over by Fox's feet.

And then, out of nowhere, Fox kicked the shield toward him, within kneeling distance.

Jaune looked down at it. "This a trick? Mercy now of all times?" Fox nodded, causing Jaune's eyes to narrow. "I don't believe you." Another *click* and whirling of gears retracted back the elbow spikes. Fox took off his gauntlets and dropped them to the floor. He lifted a hand and made a "come get me" gesture. Jaune let his surprise show, Fox being blind an all, and knelt to pick up the shield.

He kissed Fox's boot as it crashed into his face. Stars danced about his vision as Fox closed in once more.

/-/-/-/

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

Velvet looked down at her scroll. 03:36:02:13.

 _We'll need you to be acting medic. Oz won't want records from the infirmary until he can pull his final test._

 _I'm aware. I went through it too._

 _Then don't mess up._

She looked back to the door, worry beginning to show in her expression.

 _Will he be alright?_

 _That's up to him. We can only push him so far before he needs to start pushing himself._

 _And if he can't handle it?_

 _He'll be alright. I'm sure you'll do fine._

There was a hiss and the training room doors slid open slowly. Jaune stumbled past them, almost collapsing at her feet. She watched him on his knees, panting heavily, and could only look on in horror as he seemed to bleed from everywhere that he could. He slumped over, crimson trailing down his face. His right arm appeared dislocated, hanging lifeless at his side in the clutches of his good hand. Black and blue engulfed lower parts of his forearms and multiple incisions covered his legs.

Fox followed him closely, punching something into his scroll. Velvet was so shocked at Jaune's condition that it took her seconds to register the sound that came from her scroll. She peered at the update.

 **Message Received: Status Report – Alistair**

She looked up at him, face bleak, a mixture of fear and suppressed rage. "This wasn't necessary. You didn't have to go so far." she said quietly.

"I did." he responded. "Already in 40 minutes, he has made more progress than in the past month."

Jaune shifted slightly from his position on the ground, his head scraping on the ground so that he could see his former assailant. He glared fire. "You... can talk?!... motherf*cker?!"

Fox didn't react to his words and Velvet glanced back down at him, wincing. She typed something into her scroll. "He's done for today. Yatsuhashi can start with him tomorrow morning."

Fox shrugged and tossed the spherical camera to her. "Your call." He strode past her, exiting the facility.

Kneeling, Velvet lifted Jaune's good arm over her head, cringing at the brief whine of pain he let out at contact, and pulled him to his feet. "Wait." She froze, turning to look at him. "Fix it. My arm." She peered it over, uncertain.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Do it." Jaune clenched his teeth together as she moved into position, knowing he'd bite off his tongue if he didn't. It was a quick pop and a spike of pain. He grit his way through it and turned to her. "Maybe not Yatsuhashi today, but could you help me with my semblance?" She had to see the hope in his eyes, he didn't hide it at all.

She looked away. "Not today either. My orders." Arm slumped back over her shoulders, she led him to the medical room, sitting him on the operating table. She darted to a cabinet and returned with an automatic three-pronged syringe. "This is an aura booster. It should help with your recovery, but it'll sting." He didn't respond and she proceeded. If it did pain him, he gave no sign of it. Almost immediately, he began emitting light. The cuts sealed close and the bruises faded. Were it not for the clear bags under his eyes, one could mistake him for being perfectly fine.

She laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and pushed the camera into his hands. "Go rest with your team for now. Tomorrow's gonna be worse." He nodded, pushing off the table.

"Thanks, Vel."

"Thank me when I don't have to see you like that anymore."

/-/-/-/

Not even 5. Jaune, now in JNPR's dorm, lay down in his bed, painful grunts and all. His team wasn't there, most likely still in class. No doubt they'd have questions. He draped a hand over his eyes, sorely moaning. He spared a glance to the camera in his hand. It now glowed the same color as his armor, vibrating with a slight hum. It hovered its way out of his hand, half of the white bleaching away to reveal a lens. It focused in on him.

He stared it it.

…

…

"... Day 1. Progress Report, Arc Training. Uh... Entry 1."

/-/-/-/

 **This is late. I'm sorry, I meant to get it out last month. Chapter's a bit longer this time to compensate. Same rules of criticism: No love, no hate, comment both what works and what doesn't, don't give me plot ideas, and don't label. Hopefully, I'll be able to get another update out next month.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Comment Reviews**

 **ZenithTempest:** **So I'm glad that someone is trying to pick up 'Jaune's Video Diary', as it was essentially abandoned some time ago, but I feel you missed the point of the story you're updating. Your main criticism of it is that it was a large harem that was a too-happy ending, but it wasn't a story meant to be in the vein of a serious drama. It was a lighthearted piece with lots of fluff with a romantic comedy plot going on. That's not to say you can't make it your own, but if you try to depart from that style too much, you risk having a narrative that doesn't really fit.**

 _I whole-heartedly agree with you're initial assessment. I even thought to myself that it was getting a little dark towards the end of the chapter but chose to leave it that way anyways, mainly because I felt that Jaune didn't struggle enough in the original (that's to say he literally faced absolutely 0 challenges on his journey to the final test). I don't intend to make it a really serious drama, as was conveyed through some comedy in the first chapter and I can promise it will get more light-hearted and raucous later on._

 _In terms of your last statement, in terms of risk of narrative not fitting, I'd say the path I've laid for this story is good enough. As for the narrative of the original, what narrative? There was no narrative. The writer of the original fell within the same trap as the writers of Legends of Korra. By intention or not, the writer of Jaune's Video Diary gave Jaune mastery of all powers and skills without showing their development. There is nothing to look forward to when we have the end result. Some may argue that there are examples of such development, but I would counter that they are few and kept only towards the beginning of the story. I intend to fully flesh them out, continuously, until the final test. And you can rest assured that my final product for Jaune's skill set and abilities will be drastically different from Video Diary's Jaune, so don't go predicting anything based off the original._

 **Just another Nobody of Nowhere: Interesting, I hope it's not a harem like the original.**

 _You and me both, buddy._

 **Adislt: okay, very good, love it. First thing first, how he can get bleed by yat? As far as I know aura protect people from damage like that? Blunt injury is possible but to make a person bleed by an attack, they should be really low in aura or their aura was broke but my knowledge of rwby not really great so maybe I am wrong**

 _"Bleed by yat?" But he was fighting Fox. Anyway, I get what you were saying. If you read the chapter thoroughly, you'll notice that Jaune almost literally passed out from having ½ of his aura sucked out to power the machine. Fox had forty minutes to use him as a punching bag directly following that incident. If I lowballed an estimation for how long it would take for Pyrrha to take Jaune's aura all the way down to zero, I'd give her five minutes, and that would be if he was tremendously lucky. Fox isn't quite at her level but he's still a third year with 8 times as much time with Jaune._

 _I also only described around 5-10 minutes of that period. For the rest of it, Fox could easily have re-armed himself with his gauntlets, Crocea Mors, or Jaune's shield. I don't know, which certainly means that you can't either. Hell, even if he didn't, close combat can be severely dangerous if it drags on for too long. From my understanding of aura, once it's gone, the wielder essentially becomes as weak as a normal person. IRL, any time an elbow is used pretty much guarantees a cut in whatever region it lands, especially for head hits._

Ch. 3

The JNPR dorm wasn't much to look at. Only about half the room was taken up by a line of 4 beds, divided in two by a window and bookshelf. The other half was rather sparse, considering it was an open space meant to be shared by four people, and had come with two wardrobes and two desks. Funnily enough, Jaune felt they'd actually been lucky enough to reduce it down to a single wardrobe since both he and Ren practically wore nothing more than their uniforms and combat attire. Growing up with seven other sisters, he was more than aware of how much larger an array of clothing for a girl could have been. Which was why he was rather surprised that Pyrrha also followed suit with him and Ren and thus the only real occupier of space was Nora. She delighted in filling it with a multitude of pink and white shirts with hearts and a disturbing abundance of "R+N" imagery.

As for the desks, Pyrrha had personally pointed out to him that JNPR was spending practically all of their study time at the library (or that they took the time to study while he read X-Ray and Vav). As such, only one desk was truly necessary, if it actually did see further use than a workshop for Magnhild.

So even with the extra space, Jaune found the room extremely plain and ordinary, not that he had minded. That typical nature definitely seemed to work against him in his current situation. He sat hands clasped, thumbs fiddling as his eyes flicked about without anything special to really focus on. _Or maybe the space is odd but a month of living here made it commonplace._ The other three members of JNPR faced him, Pyrrha and Ren on the former's bed while Nora bounced around in the background. The morning light that filtered through the window cut a very clear line between him and his team.

"So he doesn't know?"

He shook his head, an unspoken lie. "Not yet. My position here is still safe." Pyrrha's shoulders sagged in relief.

"Then why did he call for you? What did he say?" Ren's question wasn't suspecting and there wasn't anything to indicate doubt in his tone. But it was the gaze that unsettled Jaune the most; they'd lost the glint they usually held, the one he walked around with, where he knew just a bit more than he let on and was amused by it. Ren lost that glint whenever Nora fell quiet.

Jaune shrugged. "He just commented on how I'm a bit behind everyone else in our year and I need to step up my efforts." He noticed himself picking at his arm and hid the nervous tick behind his back. "Oobleck was less than satisfied with my knowledge and interpretation of history."

He echoed their rolling of eyes. "Yeah. We could see as much when he kept you and Cardin after class", Nora said, pulling her legs up midway through her jump before landing in monk's prayer position, briefly bouncing on the mattress.

"Apparently he complained hard enough. I'm supposed to neglect all classes, except for Ms. Goodwitch's combat class, so that I can go do research projects for him."

JNPR took that about as well as he expected, as calm as a herd of cats around a vacuum cleaner. Pyrrha came close to screeching. "What?! He can't do that! What about Grimm studies?!" Jaune raised an eyebrow. She looked down and flushed. "O-Okay, maybe not Port's but what about Dust Studies with Professor Peach? Arithmetic, physics, anatomy, aural balance! What about those?"

He sighed. "Ozpin must have gotten the green light from those teachers. I don't know what to tell you."

Ren's eyes narrowed and Nora brought up a hand to stroke her chin. "Maybe we should start messing up in history too! I mean, we'd get out of having to go see Port and that crazy doctor-"

"Nora, no." Ren shook his head and turned back to his leader. "So when next?"

Jaune leaned forward and pushed off the bed. "Now, actually." His back to her as he walked to the door, he didn't catch Pyrrha's downcast gaze.

"Have fun."

He closed the door behind him gently and brought a hand up to his head. His sigh into that hand brought no relief. _Lying really isn't good for me._ The *click* and slight scrapping of a nob brought his attention to the dorm across the hallway.

The door open, Ruby quickly walked out with Yang and Weiss in tow. All three were dressed for combat. "Come on! We need to go now!" She dragged them with her, Yang barely managing to close the door behind them, before they tore their wrists out of her grasp.

Yang displayed her frustration openly, arms crossing under (and, as Jaune noted, not over) her chest. "Relax, Ruby. Blake's a big girl. I'm sure she can handle herself."

"But what if she gets in trouble?!" Ruby accompanied her outcry by waving her arms around.

"You heard Yang. She'll be fine. Why should we worry about her anyway?" Both sisters glanced at the heiress critically. Yang gently shoved her shoulder.

"Come on, Weiss. She's still our teammate."

Weiss mirrored Yang's posture. "Is she? We all heard what she said."

"So? What about it?" Weiss didn't even put her hands in an attempt to tone down the hostility in Ruby's voice.

"So, we had a wanted criminal associated with a terrorist organization snooping around Beacon under our very noses, and in our team no less."

Yang swatted at Weiss again. "Stop using words like that. We don't know the fully story and spreading rumors isn't going to help anyone."

Weiss huffed and put her hands on her hips, leaning back on one foot. "I'd say it's pretty clear," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

Jaune interjected before he could stop himself. "Blake's a terrorist?" All three huntresses froze. Slowly, they turned to look at him.

…

Yang threw her hands in the air. "See what I mean?!" Weiss rolled her eyes again.

"What's going on? Is Blake really a criminal?" They fell silent again, sharing looks, glances, eyebrow movements and, at least in Weiss's case, occasional scans of the ceiling. The scene felt oddly familiar to Jaune, considering how many times he'd seen his sisters utilize that exclusively female power of silent, motionless communication to decide whether they wanted to let him in on a secret or prank. Somehow, he felt this secret was going to be a bit darker than he'd have liked.

They eventually reached a decision in a sequence of nods before turning back to him.

"Yes."

"No."

Ruby and Weiss immediately engaged in a glaring battle of wills while Yang palmed her face and exhaled sharply.

"What they mean is that we're not really sure ourselves. Right now, it looks like Blake might have been associated with the White Fang."

"What do you mean 'might have been'?!" Weiss's voice rose as high as it could without appearing like a shriek. "As far as any of us can tell, she could still be an active member!"

"You really think Ozpin would have let her in if she was?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You'd think the headmaster of Beacon would keep better track of future huntsmen than that. Blake wouldn't have stood a chance if she tried to enter with false documents."

Jaune coughed into his fist. _Left unsaid is how much worse my chances were without her numerous resources_. Awkward as the situation was, Jaune turned and proceeded down the hallway.

Yang called after him. "Where are you off to at 7:00 AM on a weekend?"

"Have to talk to Ozpin about something!", he shouted back. The girls watched his form vanish around the corner and continued to stare at the vacuum he'd left.

Ruby turned to Yang, doubt and worry etched into her expression. "You don't think he'll-"

"No." Yang shook her head. "He's not that kind of person." The sisters waited. The glances at the third wheel were not at all subtle.

Weiss sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Let's go."

/-/-/-/

"You are concerned for her."

"Well... yeah." Under normal circumstances, Jaune would have found it reasonable to stalk about the room, pacing to let off his pent-up stress. Sat as he was, the most he could manage were a few shuffles of his feet. "I mean, she's not a close friend but she's still a friend. I'm worried about what could happen to her."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Her safety?"

Jaune shook his head, stating, "Vale is one of the four strongholds on Remnant. No Grimm will reach her here and if she really was a White Fang member, she'd fare better in the poorer districts than I would."

"So instead you burden yourself with doubts and nagging thoughts, most likely at how similar your two situations are. It is understandable. I did not judge you harshly so it would not be logical to treat her any differently." Ozpin smiled at his student's sheepishly lopsided smirk. The headmaster clasped his hands, laced his fingers, and brought them up to his chin. "You can rest knowing that her position here remains secure, should she choose to return and stay."

Sensing an end to the conversation, Jaune nodded, his acceptance more for his own mind than to convince the man in front of him. He stood up and measured his steps towards the elevator. He hesitated at the door and turned back to Ozpin. "Sir, perhaps JNPR can help RWBY with their search. Seven will do better than four."

"Will they?" Ozpin asked, causing Jaune to frown in confusion. "You are from Ansel, a village outside Vale borders. Ms. Nikos is from Mistral, as are Mr. Ren and Ms. Valkyrie. Between JNPR and RWBY, only Ms. Xiao-Long and Ms. Rose have regularly walked the streets of Vale."

"Yes, but more people can cover more area in a shorter amount of time."

"So you would rather Ms. Belladonna interpret your aide as a manhunt for the faunus?"

Jaune moved to speak and paused when he considered the headmaster's words.

Ozpin rose from his chair and made his way over. "Ms. Belladonna is the daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna. She inherited the cat-like traits of her mother. That means that in addition to excellent vision in the dark, the extent of her hearing abilities far exceeds that of regular humans by a combination of four ear drums. She will not be found unless she wishes to be. The best that you can do is have faith in her." The man lay his hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

Jaune nodded, accepting the man's words.

/-/-/-/

Jaune was a huntsman-in-training. Well, before, maybe not, but Ozpin's dismissal of his false applications pretty much cemented his position. As a huntsman-in-training, fear should not have been existent, considering that negativity drew the banes of life itself.

Jaune was afraid. He immediately recognized the instrument of his demise. The blade was enormous, almost a foot taller than him. The bright orange sheen along the edge reflected the beams from the ceiling lights, creating a furious glow. He'd seen the weapon before, when Yatsuhashi had strapped it to his back. However, he'd never seen the weapon airborne and, perhaps more importantly, directed at his body.

The massive sword sailed towards him, cartwheeling lopsidedly. Jaune had some sinking feeling in the back of his mind that he was too young to see his life flash before his eyes. That did not stop the occurrence.

By some miracle, he managed to catch the odachi by its foot-long handle. His heart already beat a million times a second but in that moment, he believed it would burst into his ribcage from the simple feat of holding up the sword. By the beast's sheer weight alone, gravity and momentum simultaneously flipped him the bird and nearly forced the grip from his hands. The edge came mere centimeters from his nose. His entire hands turned white and his fingers tightened painfully, leather snagging onto the skin of his palms. There he stood for what felt like an eternity, pulse beating so hard that ringing consumed his ears. His muscles strained, flexing viciously with his veins sticking out, to support the ridiculous behemoth. Unintentionally, Jaune held his breath, his chest puffed out and his lungs screaming to rupture, all in the hopes that it would help him in his Atlas-like challenge. It did not last.

Like a scale, one side would have to give and between the 180 pound teen versus the easily 300 pound blade, the victor was obvious. Orange blurred and he sank to one knee. The tip of the odachi didn't so much fall as bury itself, cleaving into a floor panel. Jaune almost sagged forward and hung himself like a christmas tree ornament. Finally releasing his breath, he gasped and exhaled sharply in quick succession.

He wanted to raise his head, couldn't muster the strength, and settled to simply glare underneath his forehead at the assailant. "What(pant)... the hell(gasp)... do **you** (wheeze)... mean ' **catch** '?!"

Yatsuhashi didn't bat an eyelid at the question. "You are a small boy. You need to be strong, be a man. You need to train with bigger weapons."

"... What?!"

The giant walked to an edge of the floor, his footfalls bouncing echoes of stomping about the chamber. He mashed a few buttons into his scroll and looked towards the center of the room expectantly. Jaune heard a clicking sound that drew his gaze upwards. A hatch on the ceiling popped open, dropping three sphere-like objects on the ground, clanking metallically on landing. Upon closer look, they appeared to be dormant training automatons. Yatsuhashi thumbed his scroll, initiating a series of whirls and clicks emanating from the robots, until their eyes shone green. They unfolded slowly, almost rolling upwards, and stood motionless and at attention.

"Level One training sequence, commence operation."

"[~Voice command code required~]"

Jaune quickly stepped back. "I just heard a girl from the robot! And what operation?"

"[~Voice command code not recognized. Proceeding to power down.~]"

"Bypass, Daichi-14!" Yatsuhashi bellowed at the top of his voice.

Jaune's heartbeat picked up again. "No wait! Stop!"

"[~Recognized. Initiate operation.~]"

"No! Don't – EEEP!" The droids sprang to life instantly, leaping with outstretched knuckles. Jaune turned and attempted to flee for his life, only to clothesline himself with his own arm. The briefest feeling of weightlessness enveloped his senses as one robot sailed over his free-falling form. Looking back, he found his hand snagged to the handle of the odachi by a loop harness that had automatically tightened around his wrist..

"Did you tie my hand to this piece of scrap?!"

"From now on, you will use my sword during our training sessions. You will get used to swinging it so that when you swing your sword, you will swing air. Then you will also jump very high."

Were he not fighting for survival, Jaune's jaw would have frozen to the floor. As it was, he rushed to his feet just as a metal foot dented the space previously occupied by his own. He kicked the robot's face, yanked the tip out of the ground, and dragged it behind him as he sprinted for all he was worth. Sounds of screeching metal filled the room.

"Do I look like Cloud f*cking Strife to you? In what world do you live? An Anime?!"

"Yes." Jaune did stop that time, deadpanning his stare of complete disbelief at the older huntsman. One android rewarded the act by connecting its fist with his cheek.

"Stop asking questions and just fight."

"Fight with what?! I can't even lift this stupid thing!" Jaune ducked behind the sword as yet another bot took a swing at him. The metal fist clanged loudly against the improvised shield.

The third-year rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. Then, even at a distance, Jaune could hear the exaggerated intake of breath from the giant. "Level Three Training sequence, commence operation. Daichi-14!"

"[~Voice Command Recognized. Initiate operation~]"

Abruptly, the onslaught of pounding upon Yatsuhashi's blade ceased all together, leading Jaune to peek out from behind his cover. He watched the leg compartments in each automaton hiss and click open. A series of pops sounded from the hidden sections, launching standard Atlesian pistols into the hand of his opponents.

Jaune only had one thought as all firearms rose and pointed directly at his head. _I should have just stayed in Ansel._

/-/-/-/

 **Hi, guys. This one is sure coming out late, just didn't want to be written for some reason. Also more of an update.**

 **I do read Coeur Al'Aran's fanfics and even if I hadn't, I still watch Youtube so I'm well aware that Volume 6 of RWBY has been released for limited viewing and that Ozpin's real name is Ozma or Ozmar or something like that. I don't care. I pretty much gave up on following the series after the disaster that was Volume 5. I am willing to get back to it but I'd rather use you guys as a test run. If 80% of my follower list unanimously tell me that Volume 6 is worth the watch, I will check it out.**

 **On a more serious note, that release date has quite adequately pointed out to me that I'm writing way too slowly. At the rate that I'm going, It could take well up to 4 years to get to the point where I've planned to. As such, I've come up with a new plan: I will begin writing and publishing chapters daily. The content of these chapters will change, naturally, and will be much, much shorter. Instead of the standard 3,000 words, I will definitely be keeping these under 1,000. Also, based on time limits, these may be published with more grammatical and spelling errors than usually. I ask for your patience with these.**

 **Since I'm managing two different stories, I will be publishing 1 chapter per day. That means 1 chapter per story every other day. I also will not be making multi-sectioned chapters.**

 **One of my biggest concerns with this plan is that there is the possibility sense of time may be lost to the audience, and more importantly, me. I will try to be as clear with time as best as I can.**

 **One more thing. There should be another obvious part of this plan that can alter the structure immensely: responding to comments. I won't be able to respond to comments on a regular basis with each chapter. Ergo, that is also another thing I will be changing. Each and every Sunday, I will dedicate one update to each story and post my responses to your comments.**

 **As usual, same rules of commentary:**

 **1) No love or hate**

 **2) Comment on both what works and what doesn't work**

 **3) No labels**

 **4) No plot ideas**

 **For those either just joining or unaware, I also maintain another story called Loss of Identity. It is also a RWBY fic so please check it out.**


	5. ME Comment Responses 1

Comment Responses

 **Dressyone22: I've been watching volume six and honestly I have enjoyed it. There are a lot of cool revelations and old characters returning. The last episode left off on an ominous note that suggest something either dangerous or bad is about to happen. So yeah I would say give it a watch before coming to a final decision.**

 _Give me a minute... *scrolling*... aaaaaand I can't see your name on the list. Great. Sorry, but until I do, this means relatively little to me._

 **ZER0 (Guest):** **Good chapter**

 **And while I was like you, skimming RWBY this recent volume has got me hooked again, so I say go for it**

 _… *scrolling*... Nope. : |_

 **LandlordTheLordOfTheSeas:** **This is definitely shaping up to be better than the original, I am enjoying the direction you're taking it. I especially enjoy the more comedic bits and the fact that this seems a little more, mature I guess you could say. It also seems more realistic. On the matter of Volume 6, I personally think you should watch it. It's doing a lot better than V5. I was wondering since you mentioned grammar/spelling might decline, have you thought y of getting a beta? Someone to take just a few minutes and proofread. With how short the chapters are the publishing time should be affected by no more than 20 minutes, and even then that's probably a little much.**

 **P.S. Sorry about my previous review. It posted before I finished typing and I'm not sure how to delete a review, or if I even can.**

 _Glad you're enjoying it._

 _…_

 _*scrolling*..._

 _F*CKING FINALLY! JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE F*CK IN HELL?!_

 _Alright, that makes 1/336._

 _…_

 _(sigh)_

 _Moving on, I'm going to spend money so that someone else can read my unoriginal work based off of an original source (any peers either don't care enough or aren't qualified). Don't worry about the mishap about the review, it's fine._

 **Adislt: good and solid chapter, maybe you can add why blake family name haven't bring a question to students in beacon especially faunus side, as if I'm not mistaken belladonna is name of white fang ex leader? at least i think faunus will recognise the name..**

 **and will you do this fic in same format of jaune video diary as the author make the whole fic only reaction of rwby cast to his video diary after yang and co find the videos or you will add something different?**

 _Indeed, Ghira Belladonna formerly led the White Fang, only his organization was very different from Adam's. I'm not sure if bringing that fact in is really necessary._

 _I'd like to think that my style of writing is rather straightforward. If I planned on doing it in the same form of stalkers watching journal recordings on a scroll, I'd have done it from the start. That said, I will be including more entries and they will be significantly different or altered from those of the original._


	6. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

"Is our training going to be combative?"

Velvet huffed, frowning down at the gauze she was wrapping around Jaune's upper arm. "I'd prefer to not have to patch up another dislocated limb, thank you."

He blinked, peering down at her. "Well, I mean, you could always just go easy."

"Mm hmm." She bit into the bandage and tore it off. "Pthah! - In my opinion, no risk is safer than promises."

"Your team doesn't seem to agree."

She sighed as she rose from her crouch. "Yeah, they don't." Her eye almost twitched when Jaune rolled his shoulder around, only for the joint to *POP* when his arm reached its peak. He winced. "You won't have to worry with our sessions. Physical performance won't come into play until much, much later. Right now, it's all about learning."

"I'll be working on my semblance with you?"

She nodded. "Let's go."

She started without him, punching in her personal code to the door connecting the ICU to the Training Room. A brief glance back reassured her that he was moving, groaning as he shifted off the table. A quick gasp and a shift of footing affirmed that he would be favoring his right leg for a couple of days. His movements were especially sluggish as he leaned down slightly to snatch his shirt off the back of a chair and, to Velvet's surprise, she could briefly make out an array of thin, white, jagged lines all over his back. She frowned again. _They haven't finished healing yet._

His shirt descended, covering the scars from view and bringing the faunus back to reality. She noticed the concerned look he was giving her and smiled. It wasn't until they were in the middle of the Training Room that she realized what else was missing.

"Aren't you supposed to be recording your training sessions?"

"Oh, yeah." Jaune brought the sphere out from his pocket and stared down at it. "I'm not really sure about that. The headmaster wasn't exactly clear about the specific requirements for the entries he wants me to send him." He looked up to meet her expression of mild disappointment. "I mean, I already made a recording already."

"Well, maybe try doing another within the arena."

"'Kay." He closed his eyes and gripped the ball with two hands. Aura began to visibly seep from his hands, the white light pouring into the globe. There was a small *click* and the lens was revealed once more. "Day 3. Progress report, Arc Training. Entry 2. I'm about to start my semblance training with Vel. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like we'll be doing any sparing today, just aura stuff. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to associate this room with experiences other than complete agony and horror." Abruptly, the camera flew out of his hand, rocketing across the room until it hovered off to Velvet's right

The girl had her arms crossed, along with something of an amused smile teasing her lips. "Are you actually making a log or a journal?"

Jaune tilted his head to the side. "Wouldn't it be a diary?"

There was a sudden shift of awkwardness in her expression. "Um, not really. I'm pretty sure it'd be a journal for you guys, not a diary."

"Is there a difference?"

"Well, uh... I mean, when it comes to..." She could feel her cheeks heating up and shook her head, waving her hand. "You know what, never mind. Forget it."

"But-"

"Focus, Jaune." Her gaze took a sharp edge. "We're here for your semblance."

"Right, right."

She let out a quick sigh of relief. "Alright. So, I'm assuming that you're familiar with the basics of aura."

He scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I guess? Some stuff about reflections or manifestations of souls, being both a boost to defense and muscle function, and also instinctive shielding."

"That's about it. What about semblances?"

"They're person specific..."

…

"...And?"

…

Velvet ran a hand through her hair. "Right then. Semblances are also reflections of the soul and are meant to be embodiments of your being; your relationships, personality, habits, etiquette, etc. It is widely believed that semblances are revealed after the specific person has undergone a specific amount of stress, either through combat or some other strenuous activity, so as to best aide their lifestyle and, more importantly, during those exact times of stress. While it is more common to find various unique semblances, there have been records of semblances which were solely contained to a family name, such as the Schnee line."

"And mine too, apparently." Velvet looked the knight over oddly, only proceeding when she realized that Jaune had made the comment without a shred of arrogance.

"Triggering a semblance has often been compared to a gut sensation, a matter of thinking and then summoning the ability. For our purposes, we actually have an advantage because you already know what your semblance is before you have obtained it."

"Okay, so how does that help?"

"Well, that depends. Do you know of anyone with a semblance that was specifically developed as a means of evasion?"

Jaune closed his eyes and began racking his brain for ideas. "... Blake, I think. I remember one time, during one of Ms. Goodwitch's lessons, when she used some kind of false clone that got hit so she could move out of the way."

Velvet nodded, not that he could see. "Shadow cloning. I've heard of it before. Alright, do you have a clear memory of that event?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Keep your eyes closed." Despite her words, his eyelids shivered slightly slowly rose.

"But-"

"Closed!" He flinched slightly and then stilled. "Now, picture it. Examine every detail that she performed. Reduce all the fanciness to basic action." She began walking towards him, the clicks of her shoes echoing within the chamber. Jaune's brows furrowed.

"Wait, are yo-"

"CLOSED!" He made a noise somewhere between a silent curse and a chuckle. "Do you have the image?"

"Yes."

"Good." The footsteps came closer. "Now, picture yourself in her position instead. Imagine your own body making its own shadow clone while you move out of the way."

"... Okay."

The footsteps came to a stop directly in front of him. "Open your eyes and do it?"

"Just like that?" His eyes open, he could see her nod. He closed them again and imagined it. He could feel a bright light flow from his core, spreading outward. He shifted it a little, dispelling as much of it as he could.

…

…

"Did it work?" Something cold tickled the hairs on the end of his nose.

"Jaune, open your eyes." He obeyed and stared down the bright neon-blue double-barrel of a shotgun. "Dodge."

His hairs immediately stood on end and his vision blurred white.

*BANG*

His vision cleared quickly and his view was different from the previous second, now watching Velvet from her right side than directly in front of her. To his right, he managed to catch the remnants of a glowing white body in the shape of a man slowly fade away, leaving the tile unoccupied once more. He stared at the blue construct idly dangling from her hand.

"What the hell was that?!"

"My semblance allows me to copy different weapons and fighting styles of other huntsmen and combine/imitate them for my own use."

…

Jaune crossed his arms. "Well that seems very broken."

"So I've heard," Velvet replied, finally smiling as she broke open the barrel, loaded in two more construct rounds and then snapped the weapon shut. "Now, let's see you do it again."

His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he dashed towards the recording camera, waving his arms wildly. "Agony and horror! AGONY AND HORROR!"

*BANG*

/-/-/-/

 **Little late this time. Whatever.**

 **Rules of Criticism:**

 **1) No Love/Hate**

 **2) Comment both on what works and what doesn't work**

 **3) No Labels**

 **4) No Plot ideas**

 ** **For those either just joining or unaware, I also maintain another story called Loss of Identity. It is also a RWBY fic so please check it out.****


	7. Update

Author's Note

Alright, I think I've discovered a problem in my new plan: writing 1000 words a day is tiring. Day 3 and I'm already burnt out. That's not to say that I'm sick of writing, more that once I'm done with those thousand words I'm both too tired and too lazy to do anything else for the day, when I should be trying to work on publishing scripts and writing that I can firmly claim as mine. As such, I will be trying out the once a week approach again. Hopefully, that will leave me with five days out of seven where I can either relax, think, create, or self-teach Multivariable. As such, today, I updated for Loss of Identity. Wednesday. That means that I'll be trying to hit the next update for Mirror's Edge on Saturday.

Sorry for all the changes. If you think I'm pussy-ing out, go ahead and tell me you can do it. I'll applaud slowly.


	8. Chapter 5

**Comment Responses**

 **Key2DestNE: Well, this is an interesting series- I like the small adjustments you've made so far, particularly with the humor!**

 **You mentioned a growing narrative, and I'll admit I'm curious about what you've got planned for that, given the starting point you made for this series. One minor complaint I've got is the rate at which chapters are updating, most notably with roughly half of the chapters so far being responses or updates rather than content, but I can't complain too much given how much you did give us so far!**

 **Can't wait to see what the next chapter will be like- especially with what Coco has in mind!**

 _Yeah, sorry about the updating mess. I'm just panicking about how slow things are and am trying to pick up the pace without burning out._

 _Funnily enough, I didn't really have anything in mind for Coco when I first brought her into the story. I didn't really have a plan so I figured I'd just write something generic and shrug off the negative reviews. However, it was actually this review that got be thinking and after pretty much two days, spanning five 20 minute walks, I think I've come up with something that will be very exciting for everyone, so thank you for pushing me._

 **X3runner: It's an intresting story I think the interpersonal stuff between jaune and velvet works the best because there attitudes and semblances share base similarity's she can copy the physical while jaune can copy the spiritual (the representation of the soul/semblance). The parallels to characters work well like the observation that jaunes own less than legal entry into becon mirrors Blake's. I also dig that your having jaune work for his gains but that makes me wonder will he be able to use the semblances of others like a roledex/individually switching between them or is it going to be like he can use percentages/aspects Of them in tandem? I kinda liked that Wild you have jaune knowing what Blake did and who she is he did not end up joining the search this gives team RWBY to work towards the last reall peoblem they had as a team after this most problems are minor ones (they kinda were an end of show set of characters rather than a beginning of show ones.) also enjoyed that he tried to**

 **help in a way but took guidance when it was provided. But what I really wonder is how wil Neo get involved past her canon involvement would it be as her persona or as straight up three flavors of crazy creamy sweet Neo.**

 _In terms of semblance, I plan on not telling you (I just watched a video about raising audience expectations by saying one thing, only to have to backtrack and change narrative to try to please them later and end up helping no one [P.S. The video was about TLJ]). Since you already mentioned Neo that you read the original story, Jaune's Video Diary, and that you know she'll be in this one too. I don't plan on changing her role that much, only rationalizing it so that different events actually make some sense._

 **Adislt: will in this fic revealed more of jaune past and identity? because honestly until so far jaune is one of the mysterious character i ever seen in rwby besides of ozpin and salem ... because of hell until recent volume as far i knowi stop watching it after vol 3from one of my friends that tan of rwby there's no information of jaune at all besides of his last name is arc and he have seven sisters, no scene, clips, or pictures that support that information at all**

 _(Internally, the Grammar Nazi screams and thrashes as I read this). To answer this question, most of what I read on a daily basis is fanfiction. Most of the fanfiction (basically each and every one) that I read comes from Coeur Al'Aran, who as crafted so many stories that focus on Jaune that my own interpretation may have been altered and shifted so heavily to his interpretation. As such, the history he has provided for Jaune's character may bleed into this story._

 **Guest: Decent story, but please for the love of god stop censoring swear words. It looks so amateurish. Otherwise, no major complaint from me.**

 _(This is spoken with the most whiny voice you can imagine). You can't tell me what to do, mother f*cker!_

 **Goetia923: Don't censor the curse words**

 **Why even censor the curse words? Seems stupid to me**

 **People use curse words all the time**

 _Censoring curse words is my middle ground. I approach my writing with three different mindsets, two on opposite ends of the spectrum and then the median. Censoring curse words is my median. The extremes are to not censor or not curse at all. Those bring tonal shifts. Uncensored swearing brings about a mood for me of an incessant amount of swearing along with my stories becoming limitlessly darker, grittier, and all-together negative. To not curse at all would take out the realism and turn my stories into fairytales with no threats to the characters and everything would be unbearably positive. You don't like the median. I only have two other options I'm willing to entertain and I have a feeling you'll like it even less._

 **TheSettingDawn: Personally, Volume 6 has been quite good so far. Honestly revitalized my dying interest in the show proper. I'd say it's definitely worth giving it a shot, at the very least. As for the story, itself, you're doing great so far.**

 _… Scrolling... Confirmed. 2/389. Thanks for the compliments._

 **Briskpillow642: oh yeah volume 6 is worth it we get huge exposition dump on Salem and back story to Roman/Neo who are arguably the best canon villian characters in the show, at least to me**

 _… Scrolling... Confirmed. 3/389._

 **Guest: My constructive criticism is to learn how to take criticism. Cheers.**

 _I wanted to say something negative here... Cheers._

Ch. 5

*Tap**Tap*...

She really shouldn't have left it behind.

*Tap**Tap*...

Boredom would kill her eventually.

*Tap**Tap*...

Or her partner's yammering.

Blake sighed and willed her head up, preventing a merging between her fist and cheek. She looked down at her empty plate of food, wishing that for once, the school might actually have served some **fish** for a change. Three months, three meals a day, and not once had that happened. Ever. That wasn't to say that the food was bad or anything, just that she could usually ignore those small things when she had her book.

She did not have her book.

*Tap**Tap*...

Her bow twitched slightly, still in place despite the trust she'd confided in her team the previous night. The trust was with the team, not the school.

*Tap**Tap*... Back to her current train of thought, since she wasn't reading she was noticing every single, mundane, little thing happening in the room. _And The Man with Two Souls was shaping up to be such a good novel._

*Tap**Tap*... She felt her eye twitch for good measure and glanced down at the pale digit creating the noise. The finger belonged to Weiss Schnee, who herself seemed to be shutting down her own system through her own means. A quick examination showed that the rest of her team actually wasn't doing much better.

Weiss had already finished her meal and as such simply kept tapping that (OUM DAMN) finger on the table in between peaks at the clock in the mess hall. Ruby, for the first time since she'd met her, did **not** touch the cookies that littered her plate, settling for staring at them sadly. What truly perplexed Blake this time was not the fact that Ruby did not touch the cookies... Okay, she was a little surprised by that, but she was more surprised by the fact that Ruby had not even grabbed the cookies herself! Instead, it had been Yang.

And Yang,... what a mess. It didn't look like she didn't know how to talk for hours on end. She was loud, obnoxious, nosy, chatty, and so much else. Blake tried again to evaluate the problem. As she was now, the blonde had engaged in waving her arms about wildly, drawing out different images with exaggerated details. She'd slowed for dramatic pauses and changed her tone, rhythm, pitch, and delivery almost thirty times each minute. And yet, it didn't look natural. Her skin was flushed, the heat creeping up her neck like a rash. She was sweating, Sweating!

She was comedian who didn't quite know how to satisfy her audience. Blake had seen her change her approach multiple times over the past half hour and get nothing at all. Now, maybe that wasn't to be expected of her or Weiss or even Ren for that matter.

*Tap**Tap*...*Twitch*

Waving arms about wildly, drawing out different images, exaggeration, dramatic pauses, change in delivery. The faunus turned her attention to the orange-haired, pink shirt, and bubbly eyes of the girl across the table. Bubbly no longer fit. No energy, body sagged over and hunched, picking at a stack of five pancakes. With no syrup or butter at all. She could have been a deflated human balloon.

"-and so FINALLY! WE defeated the GIANT PANCAKES and the CASTLE OVERLOOORD!"

…

The silence was deafening as Yang waited with baited breath. Just some reaction any. Nora lifted her head and smiled sadly while the champion and Ren refused to even move.

…

*Tap**Tap*...*Twitch*

Lilac became crimson in an instant. *CREAONG!* All eyes focused on the sudden creak of metal and the hand imprint left behind at the tables edge. The metal had warped around five dents, curling viciously in different areas. A hand could have grasped a piece of paper, clamped with all their might, and achieved the same result. Whose hand was not in question.

… Yang felt her heart beat faster in her chest, her eupnea vanishing. Crimson eyes darted about the occupants of the table. "You're not gonna say anything? None of you?!"

Nora dropped her smile. "It should be pretty obvious why."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh, boo-hoo, Jaune's not here." Her voice become a source of mockery. "I'mma just be a stupid f*cker and starve myself, cause that'll help the situation. I'm a huntsman-in-training, training for future solo missions, but when one of my team is gone, so help me Oum, the apocalypse shall befall this world."

"That's hardly a fair comparison," Pyrrha snapped. "Jaune is our leader, not just a member of the team. We hardly see him anymore!"

"He's off training!"

"He's still absent! Imagine if Ruby suddenly got random new schedule, one where she at max got to interact with you for one hour each day."

"I'd grow the f*ck up and stop moping!"

"BULLSH*T!"

…

One word took the breath of the entire table. Not the word, but the speaker. Ren's shoulders were heaving and the glare he'd fixed on the blonde burned hotter than the girl's own rage. "Ruby is not Jaune. This team means more to her than even she realizes!" The girl in question shifted uncomfortably. Abruptly thrust into the spotlight, her hands tightened around her red cloak. "Ruby is the kind of person who'd ignore all that crap and still come here. She'd make time for the team because she cares for it! She's two years younger than Jaune! If there's anyone who-" He cut himself from going further and reconsidered. "If... I-If Jaune cared for this team, for JNPR, then he'd be here. He should be here."

There was a pause, a slight hesitation, before the noise in the cafeteria picked back up. A sense of calm washed over RWBY and JNPR, settling their fevers down once more.

*Tap**Tap*...*Twitch*

Ruby sighed and dragged a cookie off her plate, nibbling at the edge. "He really should be here, shouldn't he?"

/-/-/-/

"You know, I really should be with them now." Jaune ducked a silent crimson swipe that whistled over his head. "You know, it's my team and I (dodge)... feel like I have some sort of (duck)... res- (roll)... res- (leap)... responsibility to them." *SLAM* Jaune blocked a claw strike that tore at his midsection and fell backwards awkwardly to avoid the boot which dented the tile immediately in front of his nethers. He rolled backwards and adopted a combative pose, waiting for his opponent's next assault.

…

Jaune rolled his eyes. "You know that I know you can talk. The silent treatment won't work forever." His pupils widened comically when Fox reciprocated the gesture. "I'm sure you get this a lot but what is the point of rolling your eyes when (duck)..."

Fox charged forward.

"-when you can't even-"

The mentor leaped to the side, avoiding Jaune's experimental jab, before burying his foot between the knight's rib cage and pelvis.

"-se-OMFuuuuuuu..." The boy slowly collapsed to his knees and folded like a wet towel. This time, he knew better than to stay down, rolling to to his feet as the third-year made to kick his head in. "C-Can I at least have a-" Fox proceeded once more, taking advantage of the fact that Jaune was still on one knee. _Perfect._

The blonde stayed there, pulling his scabbard up in front of him. One sweep kick and a step back. Fox had chambered his right arm for the next strike. Instead of moving away, Jaune leaned forward so that the punch soared over his shoulder and jammed the scabbard between his legs, clicking the button as he did. The shield expanded, temporarily tossing his opponent onto one foot. Jaune shot through the gap and drew his sword in a vicious arc. Fox heard it immediately and attempted to move away, only managing to move his back before Crocea Mors scraped against his leg. Blind and full of rage, the trainer lashed out, catching the knight on his shoulder. The blow sent the fool sprawling.

Crawling to his knees, the boy had one last resort. "WAIT!"... The cry wasn't a moment too soon, stopping the barreling fist just shy of a couple millimeters from the victim's nose. "I... I hit you... I hit you. Now at l-least give me a reason."

…

Fox rose to a casual stance and looked down at him. Or he tried, since his line of sight was about two feet from his target. "You can eat now. You can eat later. I am here now. I will not be here later. We train now because I am helping you. You abide by my schedule." He paused when Jaune let out the most depression-filled sigh of his life. "You were correct. You managed a successful attack. It is time to step up the training," he declared, pulling out his scroll.

…

"What?"

Fox held his finger down on a key and the lighting in the room dimmed out of existence. Like a savage, Jaune's head jerked around, searching for anything his eyes could lock on to. On and on it twisted and turned, eventually settling on to what he could only assume were his own hands. He could not see them anymore.

…

"Well f*ck you t-OW!"

/-/-/-/

 **Short chapter. I'm lazy, sue me. Same rules of criticism:**

 **1) No love/hate**

 **2) No plot ideas for future**

 **3) No labels**

 **4) PLEASE state BOTH what works and what doesn't**


	9. Chapter 6

Comment Responses

 **hellsingsage: do I look like do I look like cloud fstrife! that was hilarious**

 _Thanks._

 **Key2DestNE: No problem! I'm glad to provide some help with inspiration.**

 **The interactions with Team RWBY and Team NPR (National Public Radio!) were a good tonal shift from what the others felt. I was surprised everyone was swearing around Ruby, but that might just be my own experience around 15-year-olds- plus it's a good way to get around the fact that most characters haven't really sworn in the show. You could just say "Yeah, it's cuz they don't wanna mess with Ruby like that."**

 **Jaune and Fox's training was hilarious again- I especially love Fox's personality here. You did a great job setting him up as stoic, but reasonable!**

 _Thanks for the comments. In terms of swearing, 15 is not innocent. My sister exists (or existed) as proof (and what a mouth she still has on her)._

 **X3runner: I dig the Ren bit when the calm guy looses his cool you know s*** going down soon. I mean he only ever lost it with the thing that killed his dad so it migh view jaune in a similar light to how he views his dad. And the irony of yang Mrs. literally looses it when one of her team mates chooses to research her enemies rather than party, the girl who's abandonment issues run so deep that she sexually assaulted a guy and more than likely killed or crippled a bunch of others just so she could find out about her mom who the guy told her he didn't know about. Yang really is the pot calling the kettle black.**

 _Astute observations._

 **BlazinHothead: How long is this training segment going to last? When's the plot going to rear it's head?**

 _The training is the plot. The entire plot revolves around his training, his growth, the entire time building to its payoff. If you're wondering when I'm gonna move beyond that, to the bigger picture, I'd say another 30-40 chapters. I've already told you that my end result will be completely different from the end result in Jaune's Video Diary. Perhaps after I do the session with Coco, you'll understand why._

 **LaxUmbra: Great Character building**

 _Thanks. Also, lazy Bayonetta... doesn't really sound appealing. Assuming Umbra refers to Umbran Witch._

 **Adislt: btw will jaune's family ever come to beacon to see jaune? and will you give or make decent explanation of why jaune was clueless with anything related to huntsman such as aura? the scene of jaune clueless about aura at vol 1 is really poor excuse of RT to introduce remnant terminology to us the audience of rwby**

 _I plan on, and I fully admit to it, stealing from Professor Arc, from the family's discovery to the confrontation between father and son. The difference will be the stances; Professor Arc had the purpose of proving Jaune's worth before his family, where both father and son weren't completely right or wrong. My version will be different in the fact that Jaune never even knew, yet alone understood, the reasons for why his father wanted to keep him away. My version of Nicholas's reasoning is slightly different from Coeur Al'Aran's version, but hopefully the shift is enough to make it distinguished. That said, the confrontation between father and son will be wildly more dramatic._

 **Marcialhd: okay a sincere question here do you hate jaune or something?**

 _Alright, so this is a complicated question that I think stems more from the thought process of the audience rather than the writer. Most people nowadays (or at least so it seems) seem to believe that whenever a writer makes bad things happen to the protagonist or a favorite character, be it either from loss, pain, suffering, or even snubbing and less screen time, that the writer somehow dislikes that character or at least likes that character less than the other characters. For example, let's imagine all of the sh*t that went down in EST. Luke got some really weird premonitions and then got his hand cut off, Han got frozen, Leia..., Vader got rejected by his son, Yoda and Kenobi were let down by Luke, etc. And at the time, EST had been regarded as the worst Star Wars film. It was only after the fact, when we saw how Luke got back onto his feet, where he survived, learned from experience, and most importantly grew from it that everything died down. What makes a character truly relatable is to see them fall, time and time again, only to rise. From spite to revenge to sheer will, it doesn't matter because they'll keep coming back stronger than before. That may not be an apt representation of people nowadays but it's what people want, what people aspire to be._

 _Right now, all you see is pain because all I keep giving you is pain. I don't intend to stop just yet; as the saying goes, one does not become fat from a single meal. It will take time to get stronger, time to become the complete monster that he is destined to become. So the answer: I don't care. I don't like him, I don't hate him. What I care about is making sure that you like him, that you find yourself looking at him and saying "Man, who'd have thought?" and thinking that in a good way._

 _Now if I really DID hate him, I'd put him through all this misery and have him become a powerhouse, only to then still be ostracized and forced from the school as an outcast in spite of all of his accomplishments and then lose everyone he cares about..._

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _… You know, that actually sounds like a better ending than what I had in mind... Scratch that, I hate Jaune. I hate him very much._

Ch. 6

The morning came where the days of the first trimester drew to a close and the students of Beacon could finally sink into the belief of freedom, the feeling of spring break. On that day, the school was in more of a frenzy than Jaune had ever seen. That was to say, not by very much; after all, one did not simply "play hooky" when Glynda Goodwitch stalked the halls in her free time.

Overlooking the courtyard, the leader spied several teams expressing mild remorse, longing, happiness, and, in the rare case, acceptance. Perhaps that was why he found it so much more surprising when his own team showed nothing of the sort. There wasn't anger or sadness by any measure, but it wasn't much else. Of course, he'd expected Ren's blank mien but even Pyrrha's and Nora's smiles didn't quite reach their eyes. What irony there was considering that none of them quite met his own gaze.

"So, I know that Pyrrha's off to Mistral for Spring Break but what about you two? Where are you off to?" _In Mistral, of course..._

"Our hometown of Kuroyuri was overrun about ten years ago, so Pyrrha offered to show us around her town." Jaune wasn't the only one to wince at Ren's deadpan delivery. The silence stretched between the four once more, stealing any words they may have wanted to say.

Off to their side, RWBY was a completely different sight, Ruby and Yang moving about the other two members, both somehow equally measured in their energetic partings. Both were hugging and rambling about their hometown while Weiss told them off for being immature and Blake bore it with the patience of a saint. After all, said faunus was having her cheek squished against the toned bicep of a brawler.

"You! Make sure that you call every day. I didn't save you just so that you get into trouble while I'm away!"

"... But you weren't the one to 'save' me."

"Semantics!"

Jaune turned to his own team. "You guys gonna call while you're over there?"

"You bet!" The drastic change, from silent/comatose to exuberant/giddy, undergone by Nora made him smile. "We'll text you picks of the food, and the hotel! Pyrr's even got a mansion that we can check out!"

The spartan scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Not really a mansion."

"We'll Ski! Sled! Hike! Rock Climb! Bungee Jump! Swim! Glide! Zip Line!"

Ren had shifted his gaze to the docking bays. "All appropriate, necessary topics of discussion." The bubbly girl socked him in the arm. Hard. The normally stoic boy winced and proceeded to rub his injury.

"Oh, stop being such a grouch. But, yeah, we'll definitely call."

Jaune laughed at the exchange. "I'll look forward too it. Hope the week goes well for you guys. I'm definitely gonna miss you guys."

"Yeah, I'll miss you too." Pyrrha spaced out dreamily before blinking twice. Her eyes widened comprehensively and she flushed, the tinge of her cheeks approaching that of her hair. "I mean 'We'! We'll miss you too!"

Yang loomed over her shoulder. "Smooth, carrot-top." Mist began rolling off the champion's cheeks as she looked away.

"The Dragonfly has landed," Ren announced, bringing their attention back to the docking bay.

Faced with the final seconds before departure, Ruby lunged forward, barreling face-first into Jaune's stomach. She looked up at him, her eyes miraculously taking up 50% of her face while also sparkling in the morning light. "We miss you, Jaune. You need to come back and spend more time with us when we come back. And stop being so stupid too!"

His jaw fell open, bobbing as he tried to form words. "I-I-wha-...wha-how... stupid?!" His brain almost ceased function when the combined glares of NPR and RWBY settled between his eyebrows. Dazed as he was, he couldn't manage any words as they all grabbed their bags and broke for the Dragonfly. He only managed to snap back to reality as the door was closing, waving to the group as the airship departed. A small pale hand settled on the shoulder that wasn't waving, patting as though to comfort him. Then it clenched like Death.

"Enjoying your goodbyes?" Coco Adel asked innocently. The question deflated the knight like a balloon.

"These are gonna be my final goodbyes, aren't they?"

She shrugged. "I don't plan on killing you during our training session."

"Yay. We gonna start today?"

The demon laughed and clapped on his shoulder. "Nah, you got your training with the Fox, Yats, and Vel first. We'll start tomorrow." She rolled up her sleeve and focused intensely on her watch. He followed her gaze to nothing but blank skin. She tapped the imaginary accessory in a gesture so filled with sarcasm that it nauseated him. "By my estimate, you've got maybe ten minutes until Fox gets to the grounds. Hop to it.

/-/-/-/

He had in fact arrived before Fox, beating the second year by three minutes. Fortunate for him since it was the main reason he could even see Fox's onslaught. The monster had yet to deploy the gauntlet blades, not that it made him any less dangerous. As it was, Jaune had been constantly forced to back track across the training floor, leaping and dodging in every way he could so that the blind *sshole didn't cave in his skull. The shield definitely helped, deflecting away what he couldn't effectively avoid without significant damage. If he was being honest, Jaune didn't really see much point to drawing Crocea Mors just yet. His opponent leaped upwards, arching his leg swing and deliver the blow with such power that it could have fractured Jaune's arm without aura had he chosen to block. The kick landed on an angled shield instead and for just a split second, the light beamed directly into Fox's eyes, not that he noticed. It reminded Jaune of the times around the campfire when he'd try telling horror stories to his sisters.

*punch**dodge*

*roll**kick*

*lunge**block*

*slash**swipe**shove*

*dodge**stomp**CRUNCH*

…

Fox's eyes narrowed skeptically, though his line of sight wasn't on Jaune. Abruptly, he lifted his gauntlet and squeezed off five rounds randomly. *POW-POW-POW-POW-POW*

*CRACK*

*SNAP*

*CRACK*

*CRUNCH*

*SNAP*

Jaune let out a sigh of all-consuming defeat as his last vestige of hope and pride exploded into a brilliant shower glass shards and metal wreckage, completely shot to hell. The light flared briefly before the room was cast back into the complete hell of the day prior: pitch black. "... How?! How the f*ck did you do that?! For all you knew, you could have stepped on a bag of chips! You can't even see too, so how the f*ck did you manage to break each and every single one?!"

"You really think I wouldn't have seen the 'torches' tactic coming? I only introduced the new condition yesterday."

"That didn't answer my question."

"No. It didn't." A swish of air embedded a metal box into Jaune's cheek, launching his head towards the training floor. "The better question is how you managed to obtain six scrolls for that specific use. I assume they're not cheap."

"They weren't," Jaune groaned into the floor tile, dragging himself back upright. His eyelids flickered, attempting to remove the flashing spots that danced around the peripherals of his vision. "I don't get how I'm supposed to manage to hit-" He felt a boot slam into his right cheek, kicking the words from his tongue.

"Perhaps you should stop talking and actually use your senses for a change."

The voice was coming from his left this time. Drawing his sword, he held the weapon before him, gripping more for comfort than any type of threat. His shoes squeaked against the tile as he shifted his foot. He could almost feel his ears twitch and flick about as he listened as hard as he could.

…

…

Jaune stepped carefully, reducing the noise by placing toe-to-heel. Bringing the hilt up to his cheek, he steadied himself. Abruptly, he felt the air behind him change, almost like a breeze passing by his back, and he immediately whirled on the spot. The slash met nothing but air.

…

Again, the breeze behind him. He attacked again.

...

Nothing.

…

Another brush of wind. Fox stood in front of his opponent, arm raised and poised to strike with gauntlet blades extended, and watched the boy spin around and run away from him, swinging frantically while wailing like a newborn. He could feel some sense of irony as he stared after an idiot that couldn't see in the dark. _Bless Velvet for not being this difficult to teach._ The pounding of some rampaging gorilla began moving back towards him again. His sigh was quiet as he stuck out his arm and foot, letting them sit idly. He felt something hit his foot as the knight practically clotheslined along his forearm. He smiled as the boy hacked away at his feet. _Bless him for making this so fun._ Knowing that neither of them would see it anyway, Fox grinned openly.

/-/-/-/

"You telegraph your attacks too much. Do not let the sword swing so wide."

"Does it look like I have a f*cking choice!"

Jaune didn't need eyes in the back of his head to know the giant was stifling a laugh. He also didn't have to time to consider it. One week had been enough for him to no longer have to drag the odachi on the ground, and perhaps more miraculously, he now had the weapon held before him. That still meant nothing in terms of sword play as the scrap sheet was still too heavy to stab, parry, or throw, and so he drew it back once more. The training bot landed in front of him and raised the barrels of its pistols to aim at his nose. Like so many times before, the knight heaved the leviathan over his shoulder and like so many times before the machine simply leaped away. The saber cleaved through the empty space, sinking into the training room floor.

"Oh, piss." The blonde did his best to ignore the numerous shots that pelted his back as he struggled to extract the blade, inch by bloody inch. "Any tips, Ichigo?!"

"None."

Jaune knew better than to gawk at the sheer stupidity of what was said. "Nothing at all?"

"There is no shortcut to training. You either get stronger or you don't." His teeth began gritting so hard it felt like they'd crack.

"I'm talking about tactics!"

Yatsuhashi shrugged. "It's a big sword. Not much strategy involved."

The grinding intensified. There were several potential reasons for why his entire body trembled – the giant sword that was almost twice his weight, the barrage of countless bullets battering his armor to the point where he actually slid backwards, the fact that he'd already been at this for close to twenty minutes without breaks or even making headway – but Jaune felt that the most plausible reason, in that one moment, was the purest rage and frustration he'd ever experienced.

"What about weaknesses in their armor? Do they have vulnerable spots?"

Another shrug. "They have to; they are, after all, man's creation."

"So then where are they?!"

"To know their weakness before your own is to invite disaster."

...

"That didn't answer my question!"

"No, it didn't."

Yet another training bot leaped into his guard, firing off rounds that came close to picking his nose. "Oum dammit! Stop doing that!" _I need a lure._ He swung the blade overhead, fury creasing his expression as his opponent retreated formulaically. The attack held no strength behind it and the edge barely nicked the floor. "Oh, come on!" _Perfect._ Clanking alerted him to incoming behind him and he glanced over his shoulder at the charging android squad. "Crap." _C'moooon._ 7 feet... 5 feet... 2 feet. The space around his hand inverted, almost like the air was collapsing into his right opisthenar (back of hand for non-nerds), and a faint white glow amassed around the digits...1 foot. _Now._

All three androids struck towards the center of his back, all exactly the same distance from him. Jaune shifted his weight, pivoting to his right. Each metal fist, all directed towards their target, immediately veered off course and slammed into the same spot on the floor tile right in front of his foot. Gears creaked and pistons grated but the machines never moved. In one swift act, the knight cleaved through all three with a vicious horizontal swipe. There was a moment of hesitation before the top halves of the robots slid off and the parts collapsed.

"HA, HA! 'No strategy' my *ss! Eat your words, you dumb piece of sh*t!" He whirled around to say more, only for a *DING* to cut through his diatribe. The ceiling patch opened up again, depositing fifteen more androids onto the floor. "I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THEM!"

/-/-/-/

A monk sat in the center of the Training Room, cross-legged, slouched, and exhausted. His hair streamed to the side, whipping back and forth violently in the torrent in which he rested. The chilling storm carried a blistering arctic breeze directly into one side of his body, quickly stripping away any bodily warmth. His cheek had since long gone cold and his lashes were nearing the point of freezing solid. Despite his efforts to clench them, his eyelids vibrated slightly, unclenched.

"Are your eyes closed?"

…

"Because it looks like you're trying to peek through them."

Jaune groaned his shoulders down, relinquishing any and all focus. He glanced lazily at the white glyph, decorated with multiple crescents so that the symbol resembled a sun, spiraling on the floor before him, the cyclone gradually dwindling into it stopped completely and the circle vanished.

"Vel, I'm not sure that closed eyes and meditation is the key to every semblance."

She crossed her arms. "It hasn't failed so far."

"So far." The boy let himself fall backwards, splaying out on the floor like he was about to do a snow angel. "I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to do. The 'Schnee Summons'? What am I even to try and will into existence?"

The huntress stared down at his form and slack limbs. He matched her gaze evenly and she began gently biting her lip. Reaching upwards, she tapped the floating white sphere three times, causing the ball to drop spontaneously into her waiting hand. He didn't move as she crouched next too him and sat down. "You're not bothered by the difficulties of hits semblance. Or you are but it's not what's on your mind." He looked away. "As a mentor, my job is to help you. As a friend, it is more-so my choice, and hiding your troubles won't help you."

…

"I'm not making any progress." Velvet froze like a jackalope caught in headlights. "If I even am, and that's a big if, then it's still too slow."

She cocked her head to the side. "How do you figure?"

"My training sessions." He turned back so that she could see his face. "Don't get me wrong, you're great and everything you've done to help has been wonderful, truly. But the guys, man! It's a f*cking joke to them! Fighting in the dark? If he ever wanted to, Fox could pulverize me and leave me flat on my ass, unable to move for the rest of the hour. Yatsuhashi won't even fight me. That stinking mammoth just keeps spouting worthless cryptic one-liners while I flail about with that stupid sword." The faunus narrowed her eyes and glared at the boy critically. She wanted to denounce his claims and criticize him for such a cynical outlook.

…

…

Then her expression softened as it dawned at her. "You're worried about the effect. We both know that you've made more progress in the single week of training than the entire trimester. The look on your face tells me that for all your complaints, you don't mean any of the insults to Fox and Yats, not really. You know that you've made progress, but for some reason you don't think it was worth the effort or time... Unless you sacrificed something by training with us." He looked away, refusing to meet her eyes.

…

Slapping her hands on her knees, she pushed herself to her feet and stood up. "Practice is over for today. Focus on your first session with Coco tomorrow."

He sat up as she walked away. "Where are you going?"

"I'm doing what you won't; I'm addressing the problem instead of simply complaining about it." The door slid open and she walked out.

… "That didn't answer my question."

She turned around and lay her hand on the keypad. "That's because I don't have to." With those final words, she pressed a key and the door slid shut behind her.

/-/-/-/

 **Sorry this is late. Roast me as much as you like, I don't have any good excuses this time. I mean, my boss did screw me over by tagging two 7-hour shifts over two days in a row together, so I practically lost both days. Even then, that doesn't excuse me for taking twice as long to post this.**

 **I'm sure that some might be asking what the Dragonfly was. Basically, it was the transport vehicle that brought all the trainees over before initiation. I tried looking up its name on the Wiki and it just said "airship", which I thought was stupid since the smaller "Bullhead" already had a name. The wing and body structure reminded me of a dragonfly without the tail so that was the name I settled on. If anyone has a better name than "Airbus" for those fridge-looking ships during the Vytal Festival, I'm all ears.**

 **Also, small update: I'm gonna be on vacation from the 20** **th** **to the 30** **th** **. This will affect the publication dates as I will not be posting new chapters for the 22** **nd** **, 26** **th** **, or 29** **th** **.**

 **Same rules of criticism:**

 **1) No love/hate**

 **2) No labels**

 **3) No future plot ideas**

 **4) Comment on BOTH what works AND what doesn't**


	10. Chapter 7

Comment Responses

 **X3runner: Ruby is cute as hell in this also velvet is best girl material she's not there yet and kinda goes against my personal tastes for best girl archetype (mordred from fate apocrypha type) but she's getting there. Coco has jaune under control kinda like a working wife has a house husband under her thumb (not as in there romantic relationship as in the power structure) also I kinda feel for jaune he always compared himself to the literal best of the first years seeing the almost immeasurable gap and now he's seeing the best of the second years the gap between them has to be even more immense and disheartening.**

 _Not sure I'm comfortable with the comparisons you're making. I already said this won't be a harem story. Nice of you to notice Jaune's situation._

 **Adislt: is his semblance can really be unlocked by this method?**

 **btw will you still use jaune's canon semblance or will you tweak it a bit, in my opinion his semblance should be strenghten, so his semblance can strenghten anything he want either it's durability, sharpness, healing properties of anything...because his canon semblanceunless RT still hid some part of jaune's semblance to usis like half assed job**

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _I... I... This comment is so stupid that I'm actually having difficulty processing how I'm supposed to respond. I'll consider your words when you_ actually read the story.

Ch. 7

Jaune hadn't expected the quiet in the absence of his team. He wasn't surprised by any means and there was a certain amount of relief when he didn't wake up to Nora spinning Ren around like a teddy bear. The crushing weight of loneliness quickly snuffed that reprieve. The crinkling of his shirt, the shuffling of his sheets and blankets, and quiet thumps of his feet against the carpet were the only sounds in the room, all his. Soft noises, before so completely muted by the dynamic and vigorous antics in JNPR's morning activities, now heard so clearly that Jaune felt startled by his own movements. A warm shower helped temporarily, washing away the bleak atmosphere and sapping the tension out of his muscles. Its effects, not at all as permanent as he had hoped, vanished the moment he shut off the water and he was left wondering _Water or sweat?_ in the heated air of the dorm bathroom.

When he did come out, he almost flinched at the lack of a Pyrrha's morning greeting or Ren's silent nod. His anxiety built in the silence, shoving his actions into high gear. Rushing. Scrambling now. He didn't want to be in the room anymore. Feet crammed into boots, straps fastened on his armor, and hands hastily hooked the sword to his side. The clenched grip on the handle did little to comfort him and he didn't bother doing a quick glance about the room before the door swiftly shut behind him.

His haste wasn't warranted at all and dread replaced anxiety; the Mess Hall wasn't any better. The room appeared muted with scant conversation dispersed about the tables, a polar opposite to the obnoxiously vibrant cacophony of the day prior. Alone, without his team and now alone without the school. Oddly enough, the scattered groups of two-to-three didn't stare at one another, more keen to focus on their own problems and stare at food they hardly touched. Jaune resisted the urge to hunch over, forcing himself to eat more quickly. _The Bunker has to be better than this. Today is my first lesson with Coco..._

…

He slowed down and began savoring his bites. Cinnamon pancakes with butter and syrup, accompanied by warm coffee. They'd labeled the dispenser with "Special Brew" that morning. Nora wouldn't have been able to sit still. Jaune smiled.

It was a quarter till nine when he left the cafeteria and headed into the courtyard. His stroll felt warranted, with quite literally no one outside to see him sneak around the back of the colosseum. One brick push, one palm print, and one elevator descent later, he had reached the bottom.

Coco Adel lay splayed out in the middle of the floor, eyes closed and unmoving. Her beret was on the floor next to her hand and her hair flared out like a river delta. His heart leapt into his throat and he immediately dashed to her side, rolling her over and pressing two fingers to her neck. Her eyes shot open and locked gaze with his. He froze immediately, unable to break the stare.

…

The corners of her mouth tugged upwards. "Well, Doc, are you gonna perform CPR on me? I don't think I can breathe properly quite yet." Heat began rising to his cheeks. He spotted a glint in her eye, something that he couldn't quite place, and quickly stumbled to his feet.

"I-uh-but-why-um... I-you-"

"Me, yes. Come on, use complete sentences."

His right hand immediately flew to the back of his head, scratching at it vigorously while he looked everywhere but back at her. "I-um... uh, why were you o-on the floor?"

"Contextualizing." She folded her hands underneath her hair. "A way of mental preparation. Trust me, it's necessary." She peeked at him through one hand and dangled her left hand in the air. "Be a gentleman and grab my purse for me, will you?" Her finger drooped lazily, pointing to a small black bag that seemed to act more like a box than a purse.

Jaune crossed his arms. "Why can't you get it?"

"Because I'm lying down."

"Is the purse gonna help you stand up?"

A fine eyebrow slid horizontally away from its corresponding cheek. "You know, it's not gentleman-like to go questioning the motives of women. You already have a hard time understanding them without our efforts to be cryptic."

He rolled his eyes and strolled over to the accessory, looping his fingers through the handle and pulled.

…

He tugged harder but the purse didn't budge. Brows furrowed, he gripped the handbag with both palms, interlocking his digits. There was a slight squeaking sound before the possession finally rose, his fingers straining more than the actual handles sown into the lid. Now that he looked more closely, the bottom itself appeared to be lined with metal plates.

Stride more of a hobble, he deposited the anvil onto her lap, almost fainting when she gave no reaction. She tossed the black hole like a paperweight, flinging it high in the air, before flipping off her back to her feet and casually slinging the purse around her shoulder.

"Now, before we start-" She cut herself off, looking him up and down. "... Where's you're camera?"

/-/-/-/

"7 minutes and 34 seconds.." Coco let out a low whistle. "That's actually not too bad for a 2400 meter run. Which means that Yatsuhashi's fitness training is paying off! And look! You're not even that tired."

Jaune offered a bird from his position, struggling for air on the floor, and was rewarded with a kick to his ribs.

"Come on, get up you big baby." She kicked again, this time prodding with her heel instead of her toe cap. "You're already eight minutes late for our lesson."

Rolled onto his stomach, his lips trailed spit along the floor tile before he slowly pushed himself onto his knees. Head hung low, he drew in deep gasping breaths before finally surging to his feet. He peered around for the girl of misery and... found no one. A quick 360 laid that fact bare and he even went so far as to go looking under his feet.

…

Glance left. Glance right.

…

Jaune clapped his hands together and turned towards the door. "Well, if the lesson's over, I guess I'll just go-"

Coco slammed into the exit sideways. "Lesson over? Have we even done anything?"

"How... H-How are you doing that?!" Jaune stipulated, looking her over. She stood upright on the door where she'd landed, as though the metal sheet were the floor. Despite the fact that she already craned her neck back so that she could see him properly, the second-year managed to appear innocent while tilting her head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"You're standing on the wall."

A fine eyebrow rose. "What wall? We are in a box of sides. For all you know, I'm on the floor and you're on the wall."

His stomach lurched abruptly and his perspective shifted. He still stood on the floor, feet rooted in place, but now he looked... down at his mentor?

"Before we start, I should clarify this situation with an analogy." The room spun again, this time sending him towards the ceiling. He braced his spine, thought that proved unnecessary. His 'landing' left no dents on the panels, in contrast to the impressions of Coco's heels on the elevator door. "If we were to compare your development with cooking, you'd be an unstuffed turkey." Another wave of nausea. Upside down? Sideways? He wasn't sure anymore. Maybe he was lying down now. "Oh, don't worry. We're filling you as we go. Yats, Fox, Velvet," She waved off-handedly as he stood up, pulling the room out from under him, didn't bat an eyelid as he careened into another wall. "They'd be the gloves performing the labor, the hands sculpting the clay, the frosting that decorates the cake."

"Can you be consistent with this stupid anecdote?!"

"I didn't eat breakfast and I'm hungry!" On her last word, he slipped off to the left and hit the wall at terminal velocity. "Now, as I was saying, where I fit into all this... well, I guess you could call me the mixer."

…

"Technically, shouldn't I have come to you first before the others in that analogy?"

The demon shrugged and catapulted his carcass so that he landed on the same wall where she stood. "If the others did their jobs, then hopefully you have the precise stamina, reflexes, fitness, and versatility. My job here is to deal with your thinking; how you go about dishing out the pain and whatnot."

Not bothering to get up, Jaune groaned his riposte into the floor. "Why me? You seem to be doing a fine job yourself." He jammed his eyelids shut as the room, and his stomach, rolled yet another time.

She leaned over his head. "Y'know, wisecracking is fun and all, but doing it all the time really su-UUUCKS!" She lurched forward abruptly, right as he himself felt something yank at his gut. He toppled backwards while she fell. He slammed against the ceiling back-first while she rolled into her landing, coming up knees bent and hands extended for balance. Her hands trembled. "I," She looked around uncertain before turning back to him. "I didn't do that."

The look he shot Coco mixed of fury, fear, and incredulity. "The Oum you mean you didn't do that?! You're the only one who can!"

"I know that! I'm say it wasn't my-" Abruptly, her eyes bugged out and she stopped short. She slowly turned her head to look at him, staring straight through his irises (or so it felt). He had a feeling he wouldn't still be breathing if looks could kill. The muscles in her arms and thighs flexed, becoming more pronounced along the sleeves of her clothing, and she began shaking vigorously.

Jaune would have pointed out the odd behavior were he himself not experiencing a similar ordeal. Face down on his stomach, his cheeks only scrunched further into his eye as time passed, preventing him from even looking at his mentor. His ribs creaked, the cage already seeming to flatten to a sheet, crushing the organs within. His breath stolen, the panic mounted within his head, pounding faster to his heart, and the crushing pressure continued building at a faster rate.

"J-Jaune." Her voice was deeper, warped almost. "We... We're on the wall right now... Put us back on the floor."

Scrunching his eyes shut, his growled out his frustration. "I don't know... I can't-"

*DO A BARREL ROLL*

…

The force pinning him vanished, the weight lost to the wind. Opening his eyes, the knight looked up... to Coco's body splayed out in the middle of the floor, eyes closed and unmoving. Her beret was on the floor next to her hand and her hair flared out like a river delta.

Again.

…

She wasn't moving or talking.

…

Crouching to her side, he leaned precariously and cast his shadow over her face while he peered down at it. "... You're not faking it again, right?" He froze as she groaned and brought a hand up to her head, clutching it with a grimace.

"You're... you are something. I don't know whether there's more good or more bad but that's definitely something." The second year propped herself onto her elbows before pushing to an upright seated position. She glanced at him doubtfully. A sigh escaped her lips. "My semblance is the manipulation of gravity and perspective. The room is my plaything, the people and objects within the toys in the sandbox. Any walls, floor, ceiling – the are the magnets without magnetism, the pull of gravity without a source of mass. While on any of them, I can make you see up, down, left or right in any preference of my choosing."

"So, you lost control." Jaune laughed. "I know you said you weren't doing it but maybe you were. Maybe you made the changes without meaning to." His chuckles filled him with a strong vigor, his second wind pulling the strength back to his limbs. He stood up and rolled his eyes. "Some deity you are, not fully trained to handle your own semblance." The mirth died somewhere in the back of his head upon witnessing the complete fury and irritation barely suppressed inside the eyes of CVFY's leader. The glare those fiery orbs shot at him fell nothing short of molten lava.

"I've spent nine years training my semblance. I mastered it five years ago. I don't make mistakes." His lips parted in protest. "-E.V.E.R."... He closed his mouth. "You, on the other hand, are a very, very dangerous time bomb."

"Me?!"

"You're imprinting. I didn't say anything about abilities, their function, or how they function, yet you still managed to manipulate both aspects. You've begun unintentionally copying semblances simply by close proximity to anyone with a semblance to mimic."

He crossed his arms. "That doesn't sound too bad to me."

"No?" She stared critically through narrowed slits. "Imagine this exercise outside, only you flip gravity on its head, forcing everything skyward rather than land-bound. You'd be in the stratosphere before you know it, unable to breathe until you pass out and fall from a lethal height without aura to cushion your fall." The blood drained from his face as each word spoken hammered home just how f*cked he was. "Still not sounding too bad? How about you increase gravity without meaning to and paste your insides to the point of becoming a human pancake?"

"Okay, okay. I get it!" Misery compounded into his expression, his exhale born more disgruntled than impatient. "What's the fix?"

For the first time since he'd met her, Coco Adel adopted an expression that didn't scream for self-praise, pride, or confidence. For the first time, she looked at him. No. Looked through him. She saw a him, but didn't see him. That silence, the wavering uncertainty, frightened Jaune far more than any Grimm that he'd faced before. "I... I don't know. I-I can't work with this." Something shattered, maybe his nerves, probably his mind. Rooted to the spot, he felt woozy enough to collapse but didn't. He didn't notice her get up or leave. He also didn't notice that which she held in her hand upon her return.

Until the pain hit him. It was sudden, lancing from a single point of his frame: his wrist. The process was agony, sucking away both his strength and fortitude. As his vision returned from the fogged pane, he recognized the sensation; a single band bound to his wrist.

"That is an aura dampener. No aura, no fuel for your semblance, which means that even if you do imprint, you won't be screwed immediately." She yanked him up by his armpit, almost tearing the joint from its socket. "Right now, Beacon is probably the worst place you could possibly be, so go to Vale and find something to do. Here!" Something was jammed into his fingers, a small plastic rectangle. "My card. Buy whatever you want, keep yourself occupied, but don't be around people who for sure have semblances." She turned and stalked towards the exit, her pace rushed and eyes distressed. Her panic didn't lessen the further she got away from him.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to have a chit-chat with Ozpin. You may need to be... moved."

/-/-/-/

 **I'm sorry that this is late. I'm sorry if the latter half seems rushed.**

 **One of my co-workers ditched like a b*tch to go to China for 3 weeks. Since I'm essentially the store's little piece of play doe (since I'm not in school), I've been assigned all of her shifts.**

 **Every day I have a shift. Because of her I know have 4 times as many double shifts as I had to work prior. As such, coming home from that means that, without exaggeration, I have no energy or patience to write. Today was actually one of my free days, surprisingly, and I do not expect many more of them. Please do not light up my reviews if my chapters end up being shorter or of poorer quality, or if I don't end up posting at all.**

 **Again, I'm sorry. That's out of my control.**


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